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Amaury (played by Iltheyn)

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During the day these woods were merely the place of regular hunters, woodworkers and small village folk. Through them stretched one of the biggest highways known by its surrounding kingdoms, made in times when kings did not squabble and the land was unified. It stretched for hundreds of miles and served as the path for countless enterprising merchants each year as they chased the seasonal faires, as well as the highwaymen who sought to make quick profit off of the merchant's inventory. But at night, in this specific countryside the woods became a haven for no man; the road would be hard to follow without a bountiful supply for lantern-light and the trees nestled the enigmatic fae and nocturnal monsters.

And on the evening before this night the clouds congregated and began a cacophonous downpour which made the path slippery and nighttime travel even more dangerous than before. There could be anything basking in the rain this night, hidden in the darkness.

_

Amaury pushed his wide-brimmed hat against his crown while rushing through thick rainfall, stumbling on the muddy forest floor and crashing into the wall of a shed half-reclaimed by nature. Not one to linger in the downpour he pushed himself away from it and circled around, seeking a way inside. The mason smiled when he found it; a small door with a broken top hinge sat ajar on the other side. He didn't need encouragement to step in.

The interior was as small as he expected, with some of the ivy stretching through weaknesses in the wood. Amaury had to bow a bit to fit and the discomfort made him eager to find a seat. Pushing a few old tools and dust out of the way left him with one in the form of an old stool. It sank a bit into the loose dirt when he sat but, seeing as it didn't break immediately, the mason was content to stay there. He pulled his hat off and brushed loose beads of water from its brim. "Its been weeks since I've been this lucky..." Then, he thought it was time to figure out if he could sleep in there. It didn't seem to have the space, what with all the old furniture and items inside but perhaps he could make it work?

Perhaps he did not want to. The mason knew the rural legends of beasts and fae and spirits in the night. To him it was just as good an idea to stay awake in his shelter as it was to rest. But the weariness in his body, brought on by hours wandering encouraged him to sleep anyway; and surely if these tools were not destroyed he was not far from a village potential nasties avoided? Indecision kept him on watch, listening to the raindrops' rhythm against the roof.
Iskra Sokol (played by paranoid_party)

There was a faint noise in the night; the sound of the quiet crunching of twigs. Someone, or worse, something, was out there in the rain, and sneaking too, keeping a low presence. The faint noise continued for a moment, then suddenly stopped, and once again the only sound was the patter of the rain on the roof.

Iskra hadn't expected to get separated from her hunting party, and at night? The situation was bad enough just being outside, and this rain made it hard to see anything in the trees, much less hearing something coming for her. She stood motionless, waiting for a moment, before walking forward once again, having already nocked the arrow in her bow. The mud beneath her was slick and her leather boots sloshed through the puddles, and she cursed herself for not bringing something to start a fire. But then again, a fire was nearly impossible to start in this rain. Not like she had anticipated getting distracted by that buck.

Wouldn't that have been a wonderful trophy...

There was another crunching noise, much louder than that of sticks, and Iskra straightened up. It kept going on, and for a moment, it sounded like someone was...eating something? Against her better judgement (Which she really needed to stop doing, as that was what had first gotten her into this situation), the bandit took a few steps towards the noise, releasing the arrow she had nocked and digging through one of her pouches for something to cast a light. Flint.

Re-securing her bow on her back, she struck the stone against the small chunk of iron in her hands, and in that small flicker of light, she was face to face with a beast, eating what she had been chasing, her prize buck. Frozen for a moment, the first feeling she felt was immense disappointment, and then suddenly crippling fear washed over her, because that beast was but a few feet away, and by what she had seen of it's sharp teeth and menacingly large shape, it wasn't friendly.

It roared loud in the night, a deep rumble that shook the trees; anyone clueless would take it for thunder, had their been a flash of lightning Iskra scrambled backwards, dropping her flint and sprinting away; of course the creature gave chase, lunging for her, weaving between trees and breathing heavy behind her. She was panicking, which was unlike the bandit but good god above who wouldn't panic being chased by that. She had heard of beasts like this lingering in the woods; perhaps it was the shape-shifting aufhocker, but in that case the situation was worse than she had even begun to think, and death was immi-- she slammed against the wall of the shed as well, shaking the thin wooden walls, "Shit, come on!" She could hear the beast closing in, and scrambled around, feeling for some type of entrance, a window, a door-- a door!

The woman practically threw it open, and just as quickly slammed it shut, pressing her back to it and holding her breath, locked in a petrified silence. Outside, there was the breathing of the beast; she knew they were smarter than this, but Iskra prayed silently it would leave.

She hadn't even glanced at Amaury, her only focus the creature out in the night.
Amaury (played by Iltheyn) Topic Starter

If there was anything to be gleaned by Iskra's haste it was that regardless of how small the shed might be, she was not going to be stopped. It was because of this that Amaury went from sitting in his stool apprehensively to sprawling among the tools and woodwork, smacking his head against one of those many objects. He made a small, awkward gasp whilst falling but read her behavior quickly and resolved despite the throbbing headache to stay as painfully still as her.

Iskra's horror was contagious. He could hear the beast breathing outside and wondered if it could hear his own, quickening with fright; or if it could hear his heartbeat in his chest, as frightening monsters in the wood were rumored to. The mason's hat had landed softly on his face post-accident, obscuring much of his face and one of his eyes, to his chagrin.

As panic convinced Amaury that an attack in the cluttered place was inevitable he quietly withdrew the dagger from his hip, keeping it close to his body so that it may not catch any light and glint before the beast outside.
Iskra Sokol (played by paranoid_party)

There was silence besides for the rain. Iskra had smacked her head hard against the door, practically breaking it down to get into the shed, but despite the pain she was paralyzed with fear. Her blue eyes stared hard at Amaury, apprehensive to say the least but hell, they were in this together now whether she liked it or not. If that beast broke this shed down and saw him, it would be game over for both of them. The breathing outside had stopped, but Iskra wasn't convinced; she stayed frozen with her back to the door, only moving once: to press her ear to it. Silence. She stayed like this for another 10 minutes, before, slightly reassured, she released her pressure on the door.

Behind her, it creaked.

The wood was suddenly splintered, what appeared to be a large claw reaching out and snatching the smaller woman by her waist; it flung her back out into the rain as she let out a terrified scream, scattering bits of the wall and door throughout the muddy ground. For a moment, it seemed the beast would turn to continue it's attack on her, but the added moonlight made the blade Amaury had pulled out give off the faintest gleam. It turned to him, staring through the gaping hole it had made in the wall, its breath hot as it let out a low growl.
Marenithiel (played by Beetlebelle)

Maren winded her way through the forest at a hurried canter. The heavy rain soaked her light cream fur into a sorry state of brown, much to her chagrin. She no longer saw the point in shaking off until she could find suitable shelter. A sound like thunder shuddered through the forest, something about it deeply disturbed her and made her slow her pace; it was oddly close sounding. Blinking the rain out of her eyes, Maren continued her search.

She didn’t have to go long before she heard snapping and scuffling sounds and saw the shape of a two-legged creature sprinting at full speed—towards shelter! …and slamming into it blindly at that; probably a human she guessed. The panicked movement stopped her in her tracks and she stayed as rigid as the trees around her; another blob of shadow in the woods that she hoped would be overlooked.

As soon as the human slammed the wooden door another beast from the wood had appeared; she could hear its heavy breathing from here. A sharp spike of fear ran through her briefly as she looked at the menacing creature’s form. She couldn’t easily make out the details of it, but just its shape and how it carried itself screamed “predator”.
Wet cold drops continued to rain down onto her, not even the large tree boughs gave her respite from it. She breathed in once, twice, and stepped out from under the trees towards it and the little shelter. Whatever it was it would have to find food elsewhere, she needed that shelter from the despicable rain.

Before she could continue on though the creature ripped a decent hole through the wall and plucked out the human with little effort. Her long ears pinned back and she now leapt out to stand a few feet away from them. Her horn blinked once, and then burst with light not unlike the dawn of the rising sun. She held it for as long as she could; hopefully long enough to frighten the creature away.
Amaury (played by Iltheyn) Topic Starter

As the duo waited for the first beast to leave he made a small correction; to set his hat aside and to pluck his crafting hammer from its own holster. It was done so slowly as to take up the majority of the time that they waited; Amaury was no less wary of the monster outside than his newfound companion, and hoped just as hard as she did that it had left them alone.

But then the world exploded into splinters and violent noise so abruptly he nearly dropped both hammer and dagger, screaming while watching Iskra being torn away from their shelter. Perhaps her cry and the wood splintering deafened his own shout but he could tell as soon as the door was open that he was found; some of the moonlight bounced from the dagger into the monster's eyes, and they were focused directly on him.

Amaury's face twisted into a horrified grimace and he raised his hammer just before the flash of light poured in from the outside. Perhaps it distracted the beast but to the mason the light struck almost directly, since he was facing the door to the outside. He squeezed his eyes shut with newfound pain, yelled in terror and flung his hammer at the monster's face without a chance to even properly aim.
Iskra Sokol (played by paranoid_party)

The light sure caught its attention; its growl became a roar, loud and angry, and lucky for Amaury, the hammer hit the beast right in it's eye. It let out a guttural howl, the beast shifting forms to that of the smallest of snakes, retreating into the darkness of the trees, to saftey from the blinding light.

Iskra had been sent flying quite a distance through the wooded region, lying in a pool of mud and blood against a tree that had splintered slightly with the force of her impact. She seemed unconscious (who wouldnt be?), lying limp. Definitely a broken arm, unless she had been some strange mutant gifted with a second joint in her forearm (she wasn't), and her black hood was soaked through with rain water, sending diluted blood streaming down her face.
Marenithiel (played by Beetlebelle)

As the beast escaped Maren huffed out a breath. The light dimmed down considerably to a softer warm glow similar to a lantern’s light; illuminating just the area a few yards around her. The sudden strain of concentration made her tired and hungry; then again she usually was hungry.

She kept partial focus on producing the light from her horn as she turned to look towards where she saw the human get flung to. Her coat twitched as she considered her options; go into the shelter immediately and dry off or check upon the poor creature.
Amaury (played by Iltheyn) Topic Starter

The mason clambered out of the shed as soon as the beast seemed to flee, blinded still by the initial burst of light even though it became much softer. He panicked a bit, brushed around the mud to find his hammer and, once successful in his acquisition, rubbed his eyes with the backs of his hands, at the wrist. It didn't take long for his sight to return but in that instant it remained quite blurry, causing him to mistake the beast for a concerned passerby. "Hey! Thank the gods, wh-where's that other lady--?"

That was when he started to realize there was nobody on that unusually shiny horse. He yipped and scrambled back toward the shed but showed less panic as Marenithiel did not necessarily resemble the monster he'd just faced. Amaury blinked several times to clear his vision, finding the sight of it both frightening and awe-inspiring; the likes of which the humble mason had never seen. It was almost enough to distract him for Iskra's plight.

Still, he moved very, very slowly toward where he thought the woman had fallen. Surely she was not in nearly as good condition as he was.
Iskra Sokol (played by paranoid_party)

She was still lying against the tree, though she seemed to have regained her conciousness quickly, unstable as she got to her feet. Her leather armor was shredded around her waist where the beast had grabbed her, as was her cloak, but Iskra was leaning heavily on the tree, reaching for her dagger as Amaury approached, "I... want no trouble, stranger." Her voice shook but her tone was firm, despite the shape she was in; her broken arm hung limp at her side, it would hurt more to try and move it. She was a bandit, it appeared, and by the crest on her shirt she was a dangerous one, from the mountains. Which would explain her tenacity, despite the shape she was in. Her blue eyes remained narrowed, and she didn't move to wipe the blood and water from her eyes, not sure what to think of the strange mason. After all, no normal man would be wandering these woods at night, right?

Of course, when Iskra caught sight of that...horse? Was that a horse, but it was strangely calm for what it had to have witnessed.... Her face became suddenly puzzled, "I... really hit that tree hard didn't I? Or does that horse appear to be a... what are they called, unicorns? uni-horns?"
Marenithiel (played by Beetlebelle)

Maren quickly looked back to the shed when she heard a voice call out. She shifted nervously when he jerked backwards and kept her odd gaze on him warily, having not realized there was a second human. She realized he was now moving towards the fallen human and relaxed slightly, once he was further from the entrance of the building she lowered her head and shook off as much rain as she could, the light from her horn shook and made the shadows around her dance crazily.

She brusquely padded the rest of the way to the shelter. It was a bit smaller and cramped than she hoped, but she managed to get inside well enough, being the size of a pony had its advantages.
Amaury (played by Iltheyn) Topic Starter

Amaury stopped in his gradual approach when Iskra spoke up. Though the unicorn was making its way to the shelter there was just enough time for him to see the bandit for what she was; a revelation that put him on edge again. He lifted his hands defensively but upon realizing he was still holding prospective weapons the mason put them away. "No. No trouble. Lets take it slow." Despite mistrust, the mason turned his gaze briefly to Maren while she settled in the shed. "You're not imagining things... That's definitely a unicorn."

He looked back at Iskra and gave what he hoped was a fetching smirk. "I would know. I made a few of those out of stone for a cathedral a few years back." Then he put his hands on his hips, only to gesture with the right one at her. "You look like you could use a seat, couple of bandages and maybe some booze. Lucky for you, I have the bandages, but I don't have a seat or booze, so..." Amaury shrugged. "Lets improvise?"
Iskra Sokol (played by paranoid_party)

While Iskra noted his smirk, she felt he looked more tired than anything. Of course, she knew the same probably went for her; the exhaustion on her face was probably clear, otherwise he wouldn't be offering someone like her help. She stared at him for a long moment, judging the man. He didn't appear to be planning anything, offering to help her like this, and if the situation did turn sour she would not hesitate to attack.

Still, she holstered her knife and paused a bit, before reaching around her belt to pull a reasonably sized canteen from her belt, "I have no glasses, but I do have booze. Lucky." Her tone was clipped, and almost defensive, but the way her voice got quieter at the end of her sentences made it clear the woman was weary. She glanced at Maren, "She appears to be comfortable there...perhaps we should find a tree...with better cover?"
Marenithiel (played by Beetlebelle)

Tucking her feet under her, Maren settled onto the ground, the light illuminated the inside nicely. Though it was tiring to maintain, she felt safe with the thought that night beasts would likely be repelled by the illumination. She wouldn’t be sleeping any time soon anyway with humans and a monster out and about. She listened to the murmur of the human voices not too far off, though the constant rain made their words unknown to her.
Amaury (played by Iltheyn) Topic Starter

"A tree?" The mason echoed. "I don't know where that thing went. For all we know it could be in the trees. Its footprints cut off over there." Amaury gestured toward where the beast fled; to a layman such as he, the tracks left behind would be indiscernible if they were there at all. "Here's my idea; lets stay with the unicorn. We were gonna be supper before it showed up... and we don't even have to disturb it. I have a tent." With that the man slung his (unimportant until now) backpack off his shoulder. "Besides, I hear unicorns are good luck or something." He glanced at Iskra's broken arm when making his last aside, afterwards turning to peer at Maren again, considering something.

Though he casually swung his pack in front of him the mason held it closed, waiting for Iskra's input. After all, it'd be difficult to treat the bandit in the tent if she thought his idea was hogwash and sought the aforementioned cover.
Iskra Sokol (played by paranoid_party)

"Good luck...? Yeah.... yeah that's right..." She nodded her head slowly, "I suppose then, it would be a good idea, so long as we don't frighten it...er....her." Iskra straightened up, pulling her hood back up and wiping the blood from her face with her free hand. Her steps were slow and labored as they walked towards the shed; she had no intention to push herself further and while going to the trees would be a shorter distance, there was a chance that creature could return.

A tent by Maren seemed like the best option; the source of light would be added security.

Despite her pained steps, and her arm, not once did Iskra ask or even motion for assistance; she was independent and probably stubbornly focused on her pride rather than her health, or at least what pride she could have left. Remembering screaming like that made her face burn red, what a coward she had looked like.
Marenithiel (played by Beetlebelle)

The sound of squelching steps alerted her to what she assumed were the human’s approaching. She stretched her neck out to peer out through the splintered opening that the monster had created before in order to confirm her guess.

The light cast out through the cracks and bounced off the rain and the muck as she watched the humans come closer; she remained laying comfortably though, until she saw evidence that they meant to do her harm she would very much enjoy staying dry as long as possible.
Amaury (played by Iltheyn) Topic Starter

Amaury has a passive desire to help the bandit but his sense of self perseverance won through and he begun pitching the tent instead. Though the mason rushed a fair bit for both their sakes the process still took the better part of five minutes; a time he also decided to speak, so as to fill the silence. "So uh, you have friends out here? Anyone that might have heard the beastie? Cause I figure maybe one of them has a bench."

Once in a while the mason glanced in Maren's direction; it was becoming clear that the man had been formulating a plan regarding the unicorn, though none of his body language suggested hostility.
Iskra Sokol (played by paranoid_party)

"I don't have friends." The woman grumbled under her breath, "I came to these woods to hunt, rare creatures can sell for a nice bit of coin," she made sure to not look at Maren, hoping that the unicorn wouldn't take that as a threat considering the shape she was currently in, "...and game is scarce in the woods currently. The only person I know out here.... is some do-good Knight whose head I'd like to see on a pike by... the entrance to my hideout." Her voice was gruff and angry, probably thanks to the fact the dull ache in her arm and the wounds on her body were starting to cause her a little more pain than she had anticipated. Though the malice towards this Knight she spoke of was hardly hidden, "My party has either... been killed or made it back to the hideout, and since I haven't seen a search party, they're dead." She was breathing pretty heavy, and just took her cloak off, letting what was left of the heavy fabric drop into the mud.

Iskra looked into the shed, "If our...company...in there wouldn't mind, we can grab the bench from there. That should...suffice." She said 'we', as if she planned on helping pick it up. Which was unlikely, based on the pale color of her face. Or, lack of color for that matter.
Marenithiel (played by Beetlebelle)

Maren watched curiously now as the male started to setup a miniature shelter for themselves; human ingenuity was quite impressive. Years back she enjoyed watching them and their curious ways, and even learned to speak in their tongue and conversed with some. But more often than not the sight of her caused too volatile of a reaction in them and she would need to relocate, sometimes very quickly, in order to retain her freedom and her life.

She blinked indifferently now at the female as it mentioned hunting creatures such as herself, she was neither surprised nor hurt at the comment. She pulled her head away from the opening when the female seemed to address her personally now.

With a soft huff she stood and backed further into the shack as much as the small space would allow; her head lowered and horn pointing in front in a near-defensive posture. She couldn’t quite recall what a bench was since it had been some years since she last interacted with human objects, but she could understand that they wanted something within the shack.

She would allow them entry, but only enough to get what they wished.

((edited to try to clarify that she would let them get the bench))

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